Red Eye Reduction

My father, like most fathers, is always worried about his children, but not so much about himself. My sister and her husband, Devlina and Archya, who happen to be doctors, keep a hawk’s eye over his health, to catch the slightest sign of any deviation. My father, on the other hand, has taken it upon himself to up the game by a notch, by trying to hide any possible signs and symptoms of un-wellness.

So when his eye started feeling itchy and uncomfortable, he did the obvious – not mention it to anyone. On the second day, it was not just itchy, but watery too. A day later, when it reddened, he slyly passed through the interrogation by blaming the soap, which had supposedly gotten into his eyes.

It was only on the fourth day, when my mother’s eyes started itching too, did he admit the truth. But yes, by then my mother has got the infection too.

Now I was living in a house where the other two inmates had contracted conjunctivitis in both their eyes, so it was just a matter of time before I too joined the team.

Now Devlina and Archya, started visiting the three patients piously everyday, with ‘get well soon’ snacks. So yes, soon enough, the team was stronger by two more members.

Right at this point, a Puja was scheduled at my house. And what a sight it was! Five people, all wearing sunglasses inside the room, in full on Puja-Swag mode!

A very brave friend of mine visited us too, a house with ten swollen, infected, watery, red eyeballs, to attend the puja. We literally tried to shoo him off, but he came in anyway. For the next two days, I waited for him to call and give me ‘the news’ but thankfully, he broke the jinx.

( Devpurna, by her own description, is “a lawyer by day, the quintessential bengali dreamer by night, a foodie since toddler days and oh, an up-cycler on weekends too!”